10 tips to achieve balance between work and an Ironman 70.3

Most of you already know I will race my second Ironman 70.3 in ten days. For those who don’t know what an Ironman 70.3 is (also known as Half Ironman) the “70.3” refers to the total distance in miles (113.0 km) covered in the race, consisting of a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) swim, a 56-mile (90 km) bike ride, and a 13.1-mile (21.1 km) run.

My journey hasn’t been easy AT ALL, I hurt the achilles tendon a year ago so I had to wear a boot for almost 5 months, it required a lot of physical therapy and patience. Then, a piece of gym equipment fell on me and I ended with 5 stitches on my head and a sprained neck. Like if that wasn’t enough, I had a three hour cirgury because I had my wisdom tooth removed (yes, just ONE) after that, I burned my right hand…I think that covers everything.
As you can see, I’m having a very rough year, it’s actually very funny at this point. But, do you wanna know the hardest part of training for an Ironman 70.3? Any guess? No? Let me tell you.

The hardest part of training for a half Ironman is finding the perfect balance between work and training.

Since I was 14 years old, I was on the cycling team, so I had to find balance between high school and training. Then, I got a little older, so I started college, and at some point I needed to make my internships, so I needed to find balance between training, working and studying.

But now, I am older – I graduated from college a year ago- so I have a REAL job and real responsibilities. I’m a brand coordinator of Quaker -the perfect brand for me – but it took me about a month to find the perfect balance between working and training for my Ironman 70.3. So I’m gonna share ten secrets with you that made this balance possible.

I’m not a pro, so my job comes first. Are you familiarized with the quote “The only reason I work is to pay for triathlon” hahaha I’m pretty sure it applies for most of us.

That being said, you gotta love what you do, otherwise you won’t be happy and that’s the entire purpose of life.

Picture this: you’re sitting in front of your computer, and all of the sudden you feel a rush of stress. Do you constantly feel you have your head all over the place and don’t know where to start? The answer for this problem is very simple: set priorities. Make a daily calendar with all you need to do in the day, this way you’ll become more efficient, and avoid leaving the office late.

Don’t multitask: I know you have a lot of things to do, and you feel the need to multitask -answer emails, do reports, answer the phone, go to meetings,etc- the reality is you need to stop doing this, otherwise you’ll look at your clock and see it is already 5:00 pm and I can bet you only finished two things. Again, set priorities and work on one thing at the time.

Manage your time: It is okay to fool around a couple of minutes at work: talk to the person sitting next to you, open Instagram, even stand up to get a glass of water, it’s necessary to clear your mind every once in a while. But don’t spend two hours of your day doing nothing. Learn to love every minute of your time, it is very valuable. For example, instead of being two hours on Facebook, you better work so you can finish on time and use those two hours for your training.

Drink water:Since your brain is mostly water, drinking it helps you think, focus and concentrate better and be more alert.

Eat fuel not calories: I got this quote from my nutritionist. Eating correctly is essential to function properly, otherwise it will be 5:00 pm and you will not want to train, you will feel heavy and really tired.

Take advantage of your free time: For example, my lunch time is from 1:30 – 3:00 pm so I use this time to train. Always use this little gaps. There is no need to run 10 kms, you can do push-ups, abs, strength, etc. Doing them is better than nothing; or, if you need to get to the office at 9:00 am, you can perfectly train from 6:00 – 8:00 am

Always keep your training equipment in your car: This way, when you leave the office, you can go straight to you training, NO SCALES. You and I both know the minute you get home you’ll do a brainwash to avoid your training.

Last but now least: enjoy your life. My dad always tells me the entire purpose of this life is to be happy. So, love your life, if you have this kinds of problems, you have the perfect life. I always call them FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS. Don’t stress, if one day you’re unable to train, it doesn’t matter, you still have 6 more days – just don’t make it a habit haha-

Do you have any more secrets you want to share? Please write them on the comments.

2 thoughts on “10 tips to achieve balance between work and an Ironman 70.3”

I love all 9 of these. So are you holding out on the 10th one? Are you checking to make sure I read the entire post?
Because I did! I’m so happy for you and cannot believe it was a year ago that your Achilles was hurt.
It’s been a pleasure to see your posts and IG posts too. I too had a rough year but as I turn 48 early next year I’m poised to come on strong and do great things in triathlon. I feel 30…
Ok maybe 34 hahaha and Ice been blessed with a strong body and mind just need the hormones to stay in check. haha I will take your 9 tips to heart and wait for you to send me my very own special 10th tip! ❤️💜💙✌️ #trilife #trifamily #cantstopwontstop #hashtagsprobablydonotapplytowordpress 😹😹

I just saw this! I’m pretty sure I wrote 10 (I’m not that crazy! hahaha) You are always really nice. Its been a year, can you believe how fast time goes by?!
I love seeing your pictures you are such an inspiration!.
Did you know 48 is the new 30’s? you’re gonna kick this season! I’m pretty sure about it! As you said, you have a very strong mind and body! I’ll stalk you in a few minutes 🙂 Thanks for reading it!!